Thursday, September 12, 2013

“What is that incredible smell?” asked a friend as he walked in the door. I pointed to the stove where shredded pork was simmering in an earthy, spicy sauce made from ancho and guajillo chiles and said, “It’s chilorio. Mexican pulled pork.”

Now, you would think that the first time I would have had chilorio would have been in Texas, but instead it was in Midtown Manhattan. There was a taco stand in the basement of an office building and on its limited menu was chilorio, or Mexican pulled pork, as it was described.

Curious about what constituted Mexican pulled pork, I ordered one of the chilorio tacos and discovered that it was tender strands of pork that were a little spicy and a little sweet. It was rich and flavorful and went quite nicely with a creamy green salsa.

A little research lead me to discover that chilorio is from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, which is in the Northern part of the country. After trying it in New York, I occasionally started seeing it offered on Mex-Mex menus back home in Texas, and all reports were that it was a fine dish worthy of being included on the Texas table.
When I went in search of a recipe I discovered the method to making this was as if you had taken a batch of carnitas—tender, crisp, and lightly sweet from a splash of orange juice—and then given them a bath in a sauce made rich and earthy from anchos, guajillos, and garlic. If you ever wondered what would happen if you crossed carnitas with asado, chilorio would be the result.

You can serve chilorio on its own as a proper main dish, but I prefer to tuck it into warm tortillas, and then top it with salsa, cilantro, onions, and a crumble of Cotija cheese. It’s a terrific dish to serve on game day, though it also makes for a good weeknight dinner, especially since the leftovers heat up nicely if you choose to make it ahead of time.

Chilorio takes a while to cook but after it’s done, it’s very well suited for feeding many folks. Plus, as it cooks your home will fill with an incredible aroma, which will make it all the more welcome when it’s finally done. People will ask, “What’s cooking?” and you can tell them, chilorio—Mexican pulled pork.

Instructions:
Place the pork butt into a large pot or Dutch oven and toss with 1 teaspoon of the ground cumin and salt. Pour over the pork 1 cup of the orange juice and add enough water for the liquid to just reach the top of the pork (but not cover it), about 1-1/2 cups.

Bring the pot to a boil on high, then turn the heat down to low and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2-2 hours or until the liquid is almost gone and the meat is fork tender.

Meanwhile, as the pork is cooking, in a dry skillet heated on high toast the ancho chiles and guajillo chiles on each side for about 10 seconds or just until they start to puff. Fill the skillet with enough water to cover the chiles. Leave the heat on until water begins to boil and then turn off the heat and let the chiles soak until soft, about 30 minutes.

Once hydrated, discard the soaking water, rinse the chiles, and then place in a blender. Add to the blender the garlic, vinegar, oregano, allspice, cilantro, and remaining 1 teaspoon ground cumin and 1/4 cup orange juice. Blend on high for 5 minutes until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding salt to taste.

When the pork is done, remove from the pot and when cool enough to handle shred the pork with two forks. Pour the sauce from the blender into the pot you cooked the pork, and with the heat on low, cook the sauce for 5 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the pan drippings into the sauce. Add the shredded pork back to the pot, and toss to coat.

To answer the Slow Cooker question… yesterday I made an almost identical recipe for our dinner last night using a slow cooker and a 2.5 lb. pork shoulder. Cook time on that recipe in a slow cooker was listed as 10 hours on low, and I pulled it out right at 10 hours and it was perfect. The meat just fell apart.

We made tacos with it, garnished with a little guac, onion, cilantro, and cojita cheese, and accompanied by ripe plantains. It was amazing, and I've still got a bowl full of the leftover pork in the fridge to use up.

My husband and I are about to move to Mobile from Houston, and I am dreading the move mostly because I will miss Mexican food and HEB (I am SO excited that I have your blog though!). What grocery store would you say is the most similar to HEB? I think Mobile has WalMart, Publix, and Winn Dixie.

Definitely going to try this. I cook things like this in the slow cooker all the time - chicken thighs, pork shoulder, beef brisket. I'm always surprised at how much liquid comes out of the meat so I will try skipping the water.

I'll put my game night chicken (for tacos) in the slow cooker tonight - I've added chipotle peppers to the recipe in your honor. I also use the leftover chicken to make your sour cream chicken enchiladas when there's any left.

You make my mouth water with some of these recipes. I LOVE carnitas and they have become a staple in our home. I can't think of anything better, but this might step them up a notch.

On a side note, my son is not a tex/mex or mex/mex fan (I know GASP, how could this be???), and I made a batch of your Asado recipe. He ate it out of the pan before I was even finished!! He has been converted. :-)

Mercy, being a Texas boy at heart, but now marooned in Florida, that recipe just makes my mouth water. Definitely on my bucket-list. Thanks for a great recipe and top-notch blog; but then again what would ya expect from a Texan and foodie....LOL.

Okay, I didn't think the comments could make me want to eat this even more, but they do. Steven, yes I will need a slow-cooker now, and I will definitely need ripe plantains. And Anon, mashed avocado and marinated red onions--boy howdy. I've always said that pulled pork is the one thing keeping me from becoming a real vegetarian. Well, that and chili. And cured meats. Okay, pulled pork is just the gateway meat I guess.

Made this over the weekend. This was my first time cooking using the dried chilies. No problem whatsoever and the result was amazingly delicious. I added orange zest to the pork when it was simmering. Otherwise, I left the recipe alone and let it speak for itself. Since we are a couple, there were leftovers and I plan on switching things up a little and serve the pork on Miami style onion rolls. We can add whatever toppings suit our fancy. This recipe is a definite "keeper". Judy H (Grand Rapids, MI)

Thanks for posting, I'm making this for tonight's dinner. I spent a short time in Texas Hill Country and I left a piece of my heart there when I left. I'm living in California now, and recipes like this bring back fond memories. Looking forward to see how it turns out!

Please try it for breakfast on a cool morning, it's crazy good and hearty! Fry a bit of chilorio on a nonstick pan with a little bit of fat (oil, butter, whatever you prefer). Then add two scrambled eggs, cook until almost completely set. Serve with flour tortillas and salsa verde.

Made this for four people. We wrapped some in a tortilla with sour cream and guacamole for a perfect picnic treat. With some left overs I fried some potatoes and onions mixed in the pulled pork for a kinda breakfast taco. Thanks Lisa!

My husband made this yesterday and we could barely wait for dinner to roll around to dig in. We ate in a near silence that was punctuated only by "Wow, I love the Homesick Texan" and "She's a genius" and "I love this so much." You should be congratulated.

This recipe is fabulous! It is flavorful, while not being too spicy (a good thing for guests who do not care for spicy food). It makes quite a bit for two - enough for me to freeze a portion for another meal.

Delicious! I made it tonight for dinner. Only thing I did different was pressure cook it with less water and I used a pork sirloin roast. ( I know, you traditionalists are wanting to roast me right now! But it's a way to eliminate a lot of fat that grosses me out and still have a tender flavorful meat) thanks for another awesome recipe for mex pork! We love pork.

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated to avoid spam. If you don't have a blog, please leave your name as it makes it friendlier that way! Also, please don't leave a link in the body of your comment. If you wish to direct us to your personal site, use that link when you sign in to comment. Thank you for reading and joining the conversation!